Packing Lunch

A little more about how I've tweaked our lunch prep so that I can maintain my sanity, and make sure the kids have something to eat each afternoon...

On Monday mornings I lay out six ziplock containers; three for Ben and three for Molly. This will get them through Wednesday with fresh lunches.   I found that if I try to make more ahead of time things can start to spoil.  I also noticed, that by Thursday they're pretty bored with what I've been feeding them all week!   So making three meals a time is the sweet spot that works for us.   I drag everything I need out to the counter, and fill them up assembly-line style.

Of course Molly and Ben can't eat the same thing, that would be too easy!  Not only do they have different preferences, but Ben eats at the allergy table because of his tree but allergy. This means he can't bring any peanut products in his lunch, While Molly can and often does.

This week, Ben is getting his favorite butter sandwich on a pretzel roll (it's really Smart Balance, but it's the only 'butter' he knows) an apple-mango sauce pouch, some mini ham and American cheese slices, and a new type of Cheez-It that he chose at the store last night, roughly 30 seconds before I nearly threw myself under a bus and renewed my vow never to grocery shop with him again.  I threw in a Hersheys kiss as a treat because I was feeling generous.  He's not treat-seeking kind of kid, and could care less if there's anything sweet in his lunch as long as there's something salty.  Ben is my most adventurous and reliable eater at the moment. Usually he brings his Ziploc container home completely empty.

Then you've got Molly… Who couldn't be more opposite!

This week for lunch Molly is getting vanilla greek yogurt with granola (a homespun mix of KIND granola, raw sunflower seeds, Enjoy Life chocolate granola and a few chocolate chips) some popcorn, and an applesauce pouch.   

Popcorn has become my go to crunchy side snack, because I don't buy chips, but they get so jealous of their friends who all have chips that I needed to come up with a solution so they don't feel slighted.  Popcorn is fun enough and crunchy enough that they feel like they got away with something, but I know that it's full of fiber and healthy for them.  It's a win-win!

Molly, unlike her little brother, is a full-time treat-seeker with the appetite of a bird.  Her lunchbox usually comes home mostly full.   She complains that she never has enough time to eat for lunch because their lunch period is too short. And while I agree that 15 minutes is not enough time to eat a proper lunch, she always finds time to eat her treats!

Back to the counter though...two of the lunches get popped straight into lunch boxes and backpacks.

Molly likes her lunch COLD, so hers goes into a 'Pack-It' that i freeze each night (it really does keep things cold all the way to the end if the day!). Ben could care less, so he gets a lunch box with a cold pack added.  

The rest of the containers go straight into the fridge...

And there they wait, ready for the morning rush!

Thoroughly Modern Millie

I'm sitting here outside Gregory Middle School at 11:18 at night. Jack is on the tech crew for the spring musical, and tonight, after the last show, the tech crew was responsible for dismantling the entire set. 

It was pretty fun to watch them all march each night as they built the set last month. A dozen sixth, seventh and eighth graders, mostly boys (but there were two girls!) filing in with their drill cases in hand, ready to work.

I couldn't believe that they truly were going to keep the kids this late tonight, but apparently, they are.  Jack is in his crowning glory, and I know he feels like a totally independent tween.  

It's been a great week to be Jack. He got selected to be one of a handful of sixth-graders to work on the 'Select Tech' team that ran the show behind the scenes (his job was 'Light Queue').  Then he got his COGAT results back and scored in the 99th percentile, which makes him eligible for the gifted program at school next year.  Finally, he got a coveted 'positive referral' at school for being a good leader in his FLEX (foreign language exploration) class today.  They were doing a paper folding craft and as Jack says, "Being an expert from 5 years of paper airplane and origami folding was pretty helpful!"

It's not easy, being Jack. Which is why wins like these mean so much. And why, even though the mother in me wanted to say "Absolutely not! There's no way you're staying until 11:30, young man!", the cheerleader in me kept my mouth shut and let him enjoy his moment.

I have a feeling this is the first of many to come.

Epilogue: The winning streak continued, and Jack won a first place and two third place trophies in a karate tournament this weekend!  I told him to soak up all the good feelings from the week and bring them back out to visit when he's having a not-so-great week some day in the future.  I'm not sure he heard me way up there on cloud nine, though.